The degree to which the laws are enforced varies greatly.
More than half of these are former British colonies where colonial administrators introduced laws prohibiting 'unnatural acts'.Īctivists celebrate in court in May 2019 after Botswana overturned its British-era law criminalizing same-sex relations Of the 72 countries worldwide that criminalize homosexuality, 32 of them are in Africa, where punishments range from imprisonment to the death penalty in countries such as Mauritania and Sudan. There are many reasons, but colonial laws, religious morality, and the idea that homosexuality is imported by the West are among the most influential, scholars say. So why is Africa such a difficult place for the LGBTQ+ community?
Such cases are triggering heated debates around gay rights on the African continent where homosexuality has become a decisive issue. They had been detained during a police raid on a Lagos hotel in 2018. In Nigeria last week, 47 men pleaded innocent to charges of public displays of affection with the same-sex. In late November, Ugandan police rounded up 125 people in a gay-friendly bar in the capital, Kampala, dozens of whom now face charges. Zambia sentenced two men to 15 years in prison last week for having consensual sex in the privacy of their hotel room.
